Manhunt
by hopelessswriter
Summary: Natsu is a wanted criminal; Lucy is a missing person. But new faces and revelations put a strain on their relationship, one that Lucy isn't sure that can be healed. Can Lucy find Natsu, or has he faded away? Sequel to Kidnapper. Heavy implied NaLu.
1. Chapter 1

Lucy never thought her life would come to being chased by cops holding a bag of bandages for a wanted criminal.

Her day had started out simply enough. She had gone to school until about ten that morning, when the cops seem to have noticed that she had been marked present in the school's attendance records. She had snuck out of a back door with the help of a sophomore who went to the same pub where her best friend, Natsu, worked. After that, Lucy remembered that Natsu was running low on bandages and painkillers, so she had stopped by a drugstore to pick up the supplies. But then a few cops, who had been lingering in the same store, had noticed that she looked an _awful lot like that wanted picture_ , and had smartly declared "That's her!" Practically pissing herself, Lucy sprinted out of the drugstore and into the streets.

Which brings her to right now.

Lucy groaned internally as she took another random turn, hoping it would take her to the pub. Her sandals were not exactly made for outrunning pursuers, and she made a mental note of that for her next inevitable race against justice. Fortunately, the cops in town weren't terribly fast; because neither was she. She remembered Natsu praising adrenaline once when he had received a nasty cut on his shoulder, saying how he didn't even feel it. She found herself doing the same thing as she sprinted through the streets like a madwoman. Even when her hair caught on a bush, she just yanked it out and kept running.

Finally, the pub came into view. It didn't seem like much, just a run-down shack that leaned a bit to the left and had the leakiest roof this side of town. But it housed an illegally operated fighting ring that eluded the cops for decades. Lucy had heard some of the patrons mention that it had survived the Prohibition in the '20's and the draft for the second World War. It had also become her home for the past weeks.

 _'Wait,'_ Lucy realized, changing her direction immediately. She couldn't lead the cops to the pub. She was not going to be the one that destroyed its history. She darted down a small street, back to square one with her planning. _'If I can't go to the pub, then where can I go?'_ Lucy thought, starting to panic. She cursed her determination to not make friends during high school. Both of her homes were off limits, and she had nowhere else to go. She cut to another street, mind scrambling for any kind of plan.

Out of breath and out of options, she stopped by a pile of trash. She attempted to duck behind it, but knew that if the cops inspected the area they wouldn't even have to try and spot her. She eyed the pile suspiciously; it looked familiar. _'I must have already passed it,'_ she decided. The cops' voices were coming closer, and their footsteps would be heard any second. They knew they had her. She wasn't getting away this time.

Angry dread bubbled up inside her. She had escaped every other time, and she hadn't been as careful this time. She had developed a false sense of security with her previous escapes. She hadn't hidden her face, hadn't even noticed the police until they had recognized her. Now they knew a place she frequented, somewhere she desperately needed to go when the time called for it. She felt a hot pressure behind her eyes, but clenched her teeth. She was _not_ going to cry.

"What's the plan?" A voice whispered.

Lucy jumped, stifling a scream. She whirled around to see Natsu lounging beside her, a stupid grin stretched across his face. He was propped against the trash heap, the very picture of relaxed. But Lucy caught his muscles tensing, a nerve at the base of his jaw jumping in preparation. The tears instantly evaporated at the sight of him, which wasn't the appropriate response to recognizing a dangerous street fighting champion. But she only flicked him in the forehead for scaring her.

"I may or may not have been a bit careless while picking up supplies." She gave him an anxious smile as she jabbed a thumb at the alley. "There are three of them, and I don't know if they're packing. I was heading to the pub, but came here instead so I wouldn't bust you guys. As of right now, I have no plan whatsoever."

Natsu blinked twice and nodded. As he was about to answer, the cops burst from the alley in the most dramatic way Lucy had ever seen. It was almost comical. One guy had a gun drawn and was kneeling on the ground like he was posing for some cop movie promo poster. However, the original three had apparently called for backup. There were about seven cops now, all buffed out like steroid poster boys.

Lucy was not liking these odds. Natsu may be undefeated, but Lucy was more than a little worried about his chances against seven formally trained policemen. But she knew she couldn't stop him. No one could stop him.

"Geez Luce, can't you count? There's way more than three of them," Natsu muttered, almost not talking to her. He was gazing intently at the group of men, squinting slightly. He was wound up tighter than a spring, ready to pounce whenever they made their move. Lucy huffed in annoyance at his comment, but otherwise stayed quiet. She didn't want to be the one to set him off.

When the cop Lucy believed to be in charge shifted his footing, Natsu burst out of the trash and sprinted at the now surprised force. He took out two men before anyone, even Lucy, realized what was going on.

It was a strange hobby, but Lucy loved watching Natsu fight. Not so much for the violence of it, but for the way he moved. He was so natural about it, almost as if he had been a warrior in a past life, like a samurai or Arthurian knight. He whirled and spun with the grace of a dancer. No one stood a chance against that kind of skill. ' _Especially these cops'_ , Lucy realized.

Punches rained down, kicks flew freely from both sides. Lucy felt her doubt evaporate as cop by cop fell at Natsu's feet. _'I really need to learn to stop doubting him,'_ Lucy chided herself, somewhat sheepishly. The odds never mattered, Natsu always came out on top. Well, except for three weeks ago…

Three weeks ago, Natsu had been slotted against a man known as the Captain: a jacked-up-on-steroids potential rapist that had planned to murder Natsu and take Lucy as the prize. Obviously that didn't happen, but the loss cost Natsu his pride and win streak and Lucy her back. It didn't bother her as much anymore, but it still bothered her when she moved wrong.

Ten minutes later, Natsu shuffled back over to her and collapsed. He had a triumphant grin on his face that showed off his newly split lip. He had broken skin along his arms that were either scarlet or bleeding. Dirt was mixed in with his sweat; bruises were blooming along his cheekbones and jaw. Lucy shook her head and sighed, trying not to smile. _'He's such a mess.'_

She looked up over the garbage bag and scanned the cops he had beaten down, checking to make sure they were all still breathing. The last thing they needed was Natsu being charged with murder on top of kidnapping. _'Four, five, six,'_ she counted and nodded. They were all breathing, if not severely beat up.

Wait.

Panic seized Lucy. "Natsu, you missed one," she blurted out, startling the boy in her lap. She whipped her head around, not seeing the seventh policeman anywhere.

"Luce, you sure you didn't miscount?" But he was uneasy, too.

"No, there were seven." _'I'm sure of it,'_ Lucy thought, mind in overdrive. She hadn't seen anyone slip away from the fight, and Natsu certainly hadn't noticed anything outside of his fists. _'Did they go back to the precinct? Are they still here? Did they go to get more backup?'_ Questions were piling up in Lucy's mind, and she had no answers. "Natsu, let's get out of here before—"

"Ms. Heartfilia." A hand clamped down on Lucy's shoulder, and a gun emerged, trained on Natsu. "I'm going to ask you to come quietly. I don't want to have to shoot him."


	2. Chapter 2

Everything was still. Natsu didn't seem to know what to do, eyes flicking between the policewoman and Lucy. The policewoman's eyes were cold and hard; she wasn't kidding around. Lucy could feel her heartbeat in her chest.

"Lucy?" Natsu muttered. She glanced at him, and was surprised. If she had been threatened with a bullet, she would have been shaking like a leaf. Yet he just crouched in an unassuming way, looking at her curiously. He didn't look like it, but she knew he could do some serious damage before either of the women comprehended it. She knew if she asked, he would get them both out of the alley. And she wanted to, she wanted to so badly. But he wasn't going to get hurt just so she could run away from her father. He had already sacrificed his public reputation; she wasn't going to ask anymore of him.

Their stunt was up. _'Three weeks is a good run,'_ Lucy figured. She stood up slowly, never breaking eye contact with the woman. "I will go with you," she started. She stopped the woman's hands when they grabbed for her handcuffs. "No, I have one condition." Lucy was impressed with how calm she was being. She should be be freaking out. "I know you won't believe me, but he hasn't done anything wrong. Just take me back to my father. I'll clear this whole mess up."

Lucy watched her words register in the cop's mind. For a long, tense moment, Lucy thought the woman was going to ignore her and arrest Natsu. And why shouldn't she? Natsu was officially a wanted criminal. In her eyes, he deserved what he had coming to him. He had kidnapped the precious Heartfilia heiress right out of her bedroom. He had hidden her away for weeks. Whatever he got, it wouldn't be enough. She took in Natsu's appearance: His pink hair and bloody skin made him look like a no-good thug, and the dirty jacket and torn jeans certainly weren't helping his case. If Lucy saw him on the street a year ago, she would've turned around and walked the other direction immediately.

 _'He's doomed.'_

Just as Lucy was getting ready to damn her attempt at peace and bolt, the woman's hands slowly put the handcuffs back. She gave Lucy a carefree shrug. "Okay, but just this time. It means less work for me, so I won't push the issue. But you can't tell anyone I let him go; I'll get fired for sure." She pointed an accusatory finger at Natsu, who rolled his eyes and stuck out his tongue. The cop just glared back. "Im'a call this in, you two don't go anywhere."

Lucy turned to Natsu. His jaw was set and he was glaring at her. "If you think you're going alone you're dead wrong," he stated. Lucy tried to argue, but he didn't let her. "No. I'm not letting you go back to that house without me. You hate it there, and we both know it. You can't just—"

"Natsu." Lucy interrupted. "It won't be for very long. Promise." He didn't stop giving her an unconvinced look that made Lucy want to sock him in the face. "Look. Give me a bit of time; I'll go talk to Dad, tell him what happened, and clear your name. I'll be back in a matter of days." She shrugged and gave the woman a look. She had turned around and walked off a bit to call in her report. She moved next to Natsu to whisper up in his ear. "Besides," she whispered. "It's not like you don't know where I live."

He glared for a bit longer, but Lucy saw his lips twitching and knew he was trying not to smile. He grabbed a fistful of Lucy's hair and tugged on it, and Lucy knew he would let her go without a fight. He let her go just as the woman came back over. "What're you laughing at, kid?" she asked. Natsu gave her a look, like _this is your fault_ , before running the opposite direction. The lady huffed before giving Lucy a side look. "He always like that?"

Lucy nodded, a little smile on her face that she couldn't get rid of. She saw the lady give her a look, then turned back to Natsu's retreating form. "Then it's a good thing he's hot. Let's go." She put a hand on a stunned and flushed Lucy, guiding her back through the alleys.


	3. Chapter 3

"Who is this boy?" Jude Heartfilia yelled. Lucy flinched, memories of being yelled at like this in her youth flooding back. But her father wasn't merely taking out his frustration on her; he was seriously angry at her. He was shaking a picture of Natsu in her face, whose happy smile wasn't appropriate for the tension in the room.

Lucy had returned to the Heartfilia mansion to a teary staff and livid father. The policewoman, who Lucy learned was named Maggie, explained that she had found Lucy in a back alley and had brought her back without learning anymore information about her "kidnapping." Mr. Heartfilia had wasted no time in dismissing Maggie and whisking his daughter up to his office for an interrogation the police would never be able to compete with.

Lucy looked at the picture, hopefully looking bored. "Father, for the millionth time, he's a friend. I've told you about him these past few months, as well as the staff." Lucy knew her father remembered absolutely nothing about anything Lucy told him, and Lucy had mentioned him in the rare moments when Spetto asked abut her whereabouts. Both factors were in her favor.

Jude was not deterred, however. He sighed in frustration. "Lucy, I don't think you understand what I've been going through this past week." Lucy decided not to mention that she had been gone for almost a month. "The police are calling me at every opportunity about how they have nothing to tell me on your taking, interrupting me during meetings and conference calls with important clients. All because you've decided to befriend a thug you met on the street. Surely some new phase of your rebellion of your future—"

"Pardon me, Father."

Lucy had tried to be quiet, like a good little heiress. But she wasn't going to let her father talk about Natsu like that. "I'm sorry that my, for all you knew, _kidnapping_ was a major inconvenience for the Heartfilia business. It's a good thing I wasn't in any real danger; that could have potentially been a real problem for you," Lucy all but hissed. "But this isn't some big scheme to reject the Heartfilia name. I have already discarded it, if you were even wondering. But Natsu isn't a thug, and he isn't a tool to tarnish the family name. Unlike my _actual family_ , he was there for me. So I'm sorry that I hang out with him and that the police blew everything out of proportion. But I'm not going to stop and you aren't—"

Lucy was cut off by a stinging sensation on her cheek. She looked at the wooden floor in shock, sharp heat pressing at the back of her eyes. Had her father just…slapped her?

Jude Heartfilia walked back to his desk and sat down, letting loose a great sigh like he'd exerted immense effort. "That boy is every bit a thug. He doesn't even exist in public records; he can't make any kind of honest living. If you thought he was someone you could change or make normal, your were sorely mistaken. He can't get out of that hole he dug himself in." Her father shook his head in what could have been a show of sympathy from any other human being. Lucy knew it was just him showing he was done with this conversation.

"Go to your room, Lucy. There will be two police guarding your room, and guards outside to prevent that _thug_ from entering my property again." He emphasized the word "thug" again. "Mrs. Spetto is waiting outside to walk you there. You will be completing your last few weeks of high school at the school, with a personal guard to accompany you.

"This little stunt you pulled is the last act of rebellion I will ever hear of from you, Lucy. Do you understand me?" Lucy could only nod, turning in a daze and exiting the room. She dutifully followed Spetto to her room, giving noncommittal answers to the questions the little maid asked her. The guards at her door introduced themselves as Johnathan and Nate, looking like they were fresh out of the Academy. Spetto made sure she wouldn't leave before shutting the door, and she was alone.

For the first time in the last three weeks, back in the comfort of her rich girl lifestyle, Lucy cried. She let out all the anxiety and fear and frustration. She cried about her father, how after all the years of stress and overworking he had finally snapped. She cried about how worried she had made Spetto and the other members of the working staff. Most of all, she cried about how it seemed that she would never get to see Natsu again.

—

Lucy blinked her crusted eyes open. She had apparently cried herself to sleep; it was two in the morning. She wondered what had woken her up. She stumbled over to her window and opened the window, letting a cool breeze blow through the space. She showered and changed into an old T-shirt that probably used to belong to Natsu. She pulled her wet hair up and brushed her teeth, relishing in the feeling of being clean.

Just as she sat down to write, a sharp thud was heard from outside. Lucy sat completely still, but it didn't come again. Johnathan and Nate didn't burst into her room, so she ignored it. _'There's no way it's Natsu,'_ she thought, squashing her hopes. She couldn't afford for them to get too high right now. She was out of tears.

When the sound came again, though, her hopes rose without her consent. She went and checked the window, peeking her head out to see a few of the cops chucking rocks at the garden wall, which was the cause of the thuds. She scoffed at herself. _'He isn't coming.'_

She turned her back to the window and sat at her desk. She didn't need to wait for him anyway. She was going to get herself out of this house permanently, whatever it took.


	4. Chapter 4

"I'm going out for the day, Spetto," Lucy called. The little woman waddled over, following Lucy to the front door. _'This is going to be easier than I thought,'_ Lucy thought. She had worked out a plan last night about how to get to the pub, and so far everything was going perfectly. And if it didn't, she had a contingency for any inconvenience.

"Okay dear, but wait right here for a minute before you go. I'll be right back." Lucy watched as her second mother shuffled away. She couldn't find it in her heart to disobey the old woman. She had been with Lucy since forever, and she couldn't imagine a life without Spetto. She was too kind, too sweet—

Too subservient to her father. Lucy had never liked that part about Spetto, and she was reminded of this as Spetto led a boy around the corner that was obviously supposed to be her personal guard. Lucy disliked him instantly, if only for the fact that he was assigned to essentially stalk her. She gave him a once over, but that just made her dislike him more.

He was the perfect boy. Utterly flawless. Tall and handsome, with white teeth that would sparkle if reality was a cartoon. His blond hair was gelled back, and his blue eyes _did_ sparkle like a cartoon. He had huge arms and a thick chest, but not so large that he seemed fake. He struck Lucy to be like a young, non-repellant version of the Captain.

"What billboard did they peel you off of?" Lucy asked, making her dislike of him known. She wasn't going to hide it. He quirked an eyebrow at her, his smile growing.

"I guess I need to protect you from that sharp tongue, right? You'd think duct tape would have done the trick." Lucy glared at him to mask her lack of comeback.

Oh yes, this boy was much too perfect.

Spetto looked scandalized at their first conversation. "Children! My heavens, Lucy that is not how you have been raised! That hoodlum boy got to you more than I realized." She muttered the last part, but Lucy bristled at the comment nonetheless.

"He isn't a—"

"Lucy, this is Jacob." Spetto continued on as if she hadn't heard Lucy. In all honesty, she probably hadn't. "He will be accompanying you whenever you leave this house. He's your age, so he can go with you to school and other places without raising too many questions." She fixed Lucy with one of her rare stern looks, saying "behave yourself" and striking fear into all those who it was directed at. Then she turned and waddled away, muttering about cleaning and needing more Windex.

Lucy looked at Jacob once more, huffed, and strutted out the door. So she hadn't thought her guard would be so young; it didn't matter. Her plan would still work.

They walked to the drugstore near Lucy's high school, since Lucy had lost the bag of bandages and medicine. Jacob stayed annoyingly close to her, as if they liked each other. Lucy continuously tried to edge away from him, but he didn't get the hint. She was walking so fast she was practically running, but he just leisurely strolled along beside her without a care in the world. It was making Lucy itch all over. He didn't say anything, not when they got there or left. Not when she bought a bunch of medical supplies. Not when Lucy stopped for lunch in a café. Even when she said she was going to the bathroom, he just nodded and watched her go.

Which was his mistake. Lucy had remembered this café from when she and Natsu had needed to escape the police. They had climbed out the bathroom in the men's room and ran to the pub, which was about half a mile away. This was going to be a piece of cake.

Lucy slipped into the men's room with no trouble. No one was in there, and no one saw her go in. Even if Jacob did see her, she was going to be gone by the time he came in to ask her what she was doing. She climbed up the sink and yanked the glass aside, balancing precariously. _'Please don't fall.'_ A minute later, she was sliding down the café's outside wall, giddy from relief. She was never going to have to go to back to that mansion again. No more Father, no more expectations. She was going to miss the staff, but they all knew how miserable she was. Lucy hoped they would at least understand. She started running, adrenaline quickening her pace.

An uncontrollable grin broke out on her face when the pub came into view. She never thought she would see the place as anything more than a broken down dump, but it could've been the Taj Mahal right then and there. Lucy slowed to a walk, ready to walk in and never leave again. _'Natsu's going to be so shocked,'_ she thought, giggling despite herself. She wondered if he was fighting, or if he was sitting at their table, just waiting.

"So this is where he took you, huh?"

Lucy squeaked in alarm. She turned around to see Jacob staring stonily at the pub. _'Who knew things would go this wrong.'_ She watched him take in the sign reading —'S PUB, its lean to the left, the beer bottles and blood decorating the ground out front. Lucy's temper flared as he just stood there judging it, how he had followed her and she hadn't had a clue. She clenched her fists and got ready to just scream at him, but before she could he grabbed her wrist and tugged her back. "Come on, we're leaving."

"What? Why?" Lucy sputtered. She yanked her wrist, but he didn't loosen his grip.

"Because my job is done. Your father asked me to find out where you were all that time: I did. Now that that's done, you are going back to your house. Everyone knew you would try to go back to that guy. You should've waited a few weeks. Now come on, let's go."

Lucy felt her temper rise again, so hot that she really did scream. She screamed for the one person she knew would help, could fix the mess she had been arrogant enough to try to fix on her own.

"Natsu!"


	5. Chapter 5

Lucy realized how stupid yelling for him was as soon as his name left her mouth. He wouldn't be able to hear her in the pub, it was too loud. Also, Jacob was most likely trained to fight. _'Granted, so were those cops,'_ a little voice in Lucy head piped up, but she ignored it. Hope wouldn't help her right now. She knew she shouldn't count Natsu out, but she couldn't help be pessimistic with how her life was going.

But it did shock Jacob enough for his grip on her wrist to slacken. Lucy took advantage of this and all but snatched her wrist out of his fingers. She wasted no time in sprinting inside, fighting through the mob of people to get to the table where she and Natsu always were. _'I just have to find him.'_ She could hear drunks yelling behind her as Jacob tried to follow her, but the path she carved sealed back up as soon as the space was free. The crowd knew her as a regular, so allowed her passage if she was willing to fight for it. But it couldn't be penetrated if you were new and a good fight was going on. Like right now.

 _'Crap.'_

When a good fight was going on, that meant one of the fighters was the Salamander. Which meant Natsu was not going to be able to help her at the moment. The Salamander was the biggest hit in the pub. Apparently, no one had won as many fights as him since the pub's opening. And the more fights he won, the more popular the Salamander became. It was almost hard to spend anytime with him anymore, since he was always getting called up to beat down an arrogant challenger. It also seemed that no one knew that Natsu had technically lost to the Captain, since the cops had intervened before the winner was officially declared.

Lucy squeezed between two older men who were guzzling beer like parched desert wanderers who were sitting right next to the ring. She sat down seductively, sitting down right on the table top. "You two mind if I stay here a while?" They nodded stupidly, eyeing the outfit she had purposely picked out for this very venue, if her escape had reached the point it was at. The lacy bralette she was wearing as a shirt and tight jeans left very little to the imagination, and this played to her favor in the pub. You couldn't get anything without status or looks. Lucy had both.

The bell rang just as Jacob emerged from the throng. Beer covered every square inch of him, and the frenzy had ruined his perfection. His hair was mussed up, the yellow strands falling in his eyes. He had a smear of something on his cheek that looked an awful lot like lipstick, and he was glaring so fiercely that he would've made a wolf cower. He looked like he truly belonged with the rest of the patrons.

"You two might wanna move tables," Lucy suggested. They took one look at Jacob and scattered, one knocking his beer to the floor. This left just Lucy, who stood up and moved to the side of the table. The announcer droned on in the back as Jacob and Lucy stared each other down.

"Well well, looks like Mr. Perfect isn't so perfect anymore," Lucy taunted, purposefully eyeing his hair. He rolled his eyes and tried to fix his hair, eyeing her unaltered appearance jealously.

"Looks like Little Miss Rich Girl is more than meets the eye. Who would've thought that you could blend in so well in a dump like this?"

Lucy's reply was cut short by a thunk as Natsu landed on the table top. He crouched down and looked at Jacob, one hand sneaking into Lucy's hair. He smiled with barely hidden venom at Lucy's guard. "Yeah well, knowing me gives you some kind of status 'round here," he said, his words slurring together. _'Was he drunk?'_ "Who're you?"

Lucy watched Jacob as he saw Natsu for the first time. She giggled as he eyed Natsu's lean muscled figure, the ripped arms with blood splattered on them from his recent fight. She was sure he had bruises and blood on his face, too. Lucy wrapped her arms around the arm in her hair, holding onto it tight to let him know that she needed help. Natsu tugged her hair in comprehension, and she squeezed him a little tighter.

"I said, who are you?" Natsu growled, his tone steely. Jacob seemed either paralyzed or intent on ignoring Natsu. Lucy guessed it was the former. Lucy let Natsu go as he slid off the table and walked over to Lucy's guard. Natsu stopped to where his bare feet were toe-to-toe with Jacob's shoes. The whole crowd was circled around the three of them. Lucy heard whispers of "Salamander" and "fight" sprinkled throughout the crowd. Jacob must have heard them too, because his eyes widened significantly at Natsu's proximity.

"You—You're the Salamander?" he stuttered, nervous. Lucy became deeply confused. Jacob didn't seem to have known about the pub before today. How did he know about Natsu?

Lucy seemed to be the only one with alarm bells going off. "Yeah, so what?" Natsu asked. "Who. Are. You?" Lucy knew that this would be the last time he asked, and Jacob seemed to figure this out. He swallowed noticeably and tried to look Natsu in the eye.

"I'm…Jacob Cobeson. I was assigned to guard Lucy Heartfilia from…you."

Natsu took a step back at Jacob's statement, murmuring "Cobeson?" He turned to look at her, and Lucy saw his eyes simmering with anger. Another alarm bell went off in Lucy's head. _'Why was he mad?'_ His knuckles made audible pops as she watched him try not to hit something. "Natsu?" Lucy whispered.

After a tense silence, Natsu's fingers stopped twitching. His name seemed to bring him back down from…whatever just happened. He gave Jacob one more look before stumbling over to Lucy, practically falling on top of her. Oh yeah, he was definitely drunk. The whiskey on his breath was unmistakeable, bringing back memories of when Lucy's mother died. Her father's office had smelled like the stuff for months.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Lucy asked. Natsu's face was buried in her collarbone, and his fingers were knotted in her hair. His fists were clenched so tight she thought he was trying to crush her hair. "Natsu?" The patrons around them were still muttering and huddled around them, which meant one thing: they were expecting a fight.

Sadly, they rarely didn't get a fight. Jacob, the dumb fool, seemed determined to redeem himself from Natsu's dismissal. He walked up to him and did the stupidest thing Lucy had ever witnessed. From everyone else's reactions, Lucy figured she wasn't alone.

Jacob walked right up and threw Natsu to the floor.


	6. Chapter 6

After the initial gasp of the crowd, no one made a sound. It was like when she and Natsu had been waiting for the right time to attack the police a few days ago: Lucy hadn't wanted to make the sound that set Natsu off, and neither did the audience. He lay motionless on the floor, groaning slightly from the impact. Lucy saw his muscles start to tighten, and knew the fight was inevitable now. _'Jacob, you idiot!'_ Lucy cursed.

After a beat, he pushed himself to his feet, swaying a little. He locked eyes with Jacob. "If we're doing this, we're getting in the ring. Let's go, Pretty Boy." Natsu took off his T-shirt and threw it to Lucy, who caught it without really thinking about it. She slipped it on over her head, earning a few boos from the men in the crowd that she ignored.

Jacob looked scandalized at the suggestion. Or maybe just plain afraid. Lucy guessed he had never been in a proper street fight before. And he was going to start with the champion. "I, uh—Pretty Boy?" was all the bodyguard could muster.

"Natsu, listen—" But he walked right past her. Lucy's voice stuck inside her throat.

But Jacob snapped to attention when Natsu clambered up into the ring. His face sobered and he climbed up into the ring shakily to face Natsu, who was swaying slightly but had his fists up. Lucy saw that he really did have blood on his face, as well as some dribbling from the corner of his mouth. The bruises from the battle royale against the police hadn't healed, the purple splotches stark contrasts to the otherwise clear tan skin. He looked like someone you needed to steer clear of at any cost.

Yet Lucy had come running to him for help. _'What have I done?'_ Lucy thought.

The announcer, oblivious to the tension and odd behavior of his champion fighter, stirred the crowd's enthusiasm easily. "Ladies and gents! Just when you thought our Salamander had gone soft, he's back!" The roar of the crowd was deafening. _'Soft?'_ Lucy wondered. "But this fight has higher stakes than his win streak! He's fighting for his girl!" More cheers. Lucy blushed, but wasn't surprised. The patrons had always thought she and Natsu were bed buddies, and…well, they had never really done anything to correct them, Lucy realized. But it kept the shadier patrons out of her hair with Natsu's claim on her, so she guessed it was for the best.

"And as for his opponent, who is he? A challenger?" The crowd booed. "A kid with serious skills?" The crowd booed some more. "Or maybe…a rival boyfriend, here to claim Salamander's girl for himself?" The announcer yelled dramatically, whipping the crowd into a frenzy. Jacob's stuttering denials did him no good against the anger of the drunken pub-goers. One person threw their beer mug at him, which was a huge offense for this group. Beer was not something to be wasted. Jacob was in real trouble.

Lucy was about to yell, scream, do anything to stop the train wreck that was happening right in front of her, but the voices of the patrons stopped her. "Salamander's finally back!" and "Oh yeah, he's good and mad now. Guess that Cobeson guy got him all riled up, huh?" were whispered excitedly among the audience. _'What?'_ Lucy felt another wave of confusion. _'What do they mean he's back? This isn't Natsu, is it? Was he like this before…before I met him?'_

Horrified, she clambered up into the ring, but as she was about to request that she and Jacob and Natsu go somewhere private, the bell clanged and everything grew quiet. Natsu, conditioned to react when the bell sounded, sprang at Jacob instantly. Jacob, however, was looking at Lucy in confusion, like _why are you up here?_ Natsu's fist knocked Jacob out of the ring and into the crowd. Lucy gasped, partly from how Jacob's loss was her fault, and partly from how easily he went down. It was kind of lame.

The bell sounded again, signaling the Salamander's win once again. But Natsu leapt off the ring and stumbled over Jacob, who was struggling to get up. _'What is he doing?'_ Lucy thought, fear coursing through her. The fight was over. Natsu was supposed to come over and try to get his T-shirt back, which Lucy would only end up keeping and leave him to lounge around shirtless. He wasn't supposed to go and confront his opponent that he had _already beaten_.

Natsu had very vehemently told her this once, calling it "the one true honor in fighting." She had wondered aloud one day why the fights never continued after the opponent was flung out of the ring. He had been appalled at the suggestion. _"Luce, the ring is where you fight. To fight outside of it is a high offense. If you have an issue, you bring it to the ring, if you can. Street's okay, too. It is street fighting after all. Trust me, I'll never fight outside that ring."_

He had been so proud. It was about honor; that's what fighting meant to him. Natsu didn't fight outside of that ring. He had promised.

So when Natsu swung his fist, Lucy realized something was very wrong. Natsu would never just discard a promise, especially to her and especially about something he held so dear. She couldn't let him betray his pride. Even if she didn't know what was going on, even though she was becoming seriously angry at Natsu, she wouldn't let him do it.

"Natsu! Stop!" Lucy screamed.

The bloody fist stopped an inch from Jacob's jaw. Both boys' eyes locked onto Lucy, Natsu's looking slightly confused as he registered his surroundings. She let out a heavy breath and walked over to them. Lucy pushed Natsu's fist down to his side and helped Jacob to his feet. She pointedly didn't look at Natsu. Jacob mumbled something that sounded like a thank you, but Lucy wasn't fully paying attention. She helped Jacob walk to the door before she finally turned around to look at Natsu; gave him a good hard look. It was like someone had shown a light on him, like she was seeing him for the first time. She observed his battered face: the blood, the bruises, the unfocused anger in his pitch black eyes. She looked at his cut knuckles, his bandaged arms. He didn't seem to fully register her standing in front of him, yet he was looking at her somewhat sadly. Like he knew that he had crossed a line.

Her father's words came back to her. _"That boy is every bit a thug."_ And, as Lucy helped Jacob walk out of the pub, she realized he might have been right.


	7. Chapter 7

Jacob sat on Lucy's bed while she dug through her bathroom. She knew that the hydrogen peroxide was somewhere… "Aha," she declared. She grabbed the brown bottle, as well as a cotton ball and her tweezers. She doused the cotton ball in the hydrogen peroxide and picked it up with the tweezers to dab at Jacob's cheek, just under his eye. He hissed when the liquid made contact with the cut, but allowed Lucy to clean it.

As she was spreading Bacitracin on the cut with her finger, he looked at her. "You're pretty good at this," he said, and Lucy knew what was coming. She ignored him anyways, digging through her dainty little bag for the bandaids. "You know, taking care of battle wounds," he tried again, like she needed the clarification.

Lucy sighed. "You could hardly call this a battle wound, it was hardly a fight." She didn't miss how he flinched in shame, and she was surprised that she felt a small bit of remorse that she had hurt him. "And you know well enough how I got so good at it, so go ahead and ask whatever you want to ask me," she said, defeat heavy in her voice. Her recent revelation about Natsu weighed heavy in her mind; had she really just blindly discarded the truth about him for five months? She had seen plenty of his fights; they had never bothered her before. Something had changed this time.

Lucy sat and answered each question Jacob asked, trying to keep her inner turmoil concealed. The questions he asked once would have made Lucy defend Natsu angrily, but she found herself validating the questions as sound concerns to have.

"Has he ever hurt someone outside of the ring?" Yes, he beat down an entire police squadron. _'In your defense,'_ Lucy's mind chided.

"Has he ever murdered someone?" No, as far as Lucy knew. She felt her old defensiveness kick in at that particular question.

Jacob asked her question after question about Natsu and his habits, until Lucy was sure he had exhausted himself. When he stopped talking for the first time in what had to have been an hour, Lucy hopped up off the bed and headed toward her dresser. As she was organizing the papers, just to seem busy, Jacob asked his final question.

"Did he ever hurt you?" His voice was quiet, as if he was scared of her answer. Or her reaction.

Lucy allowed herself this one defense of Natsu. She may not know what had happened, but, for right now at least, he was still her best friend. "No," she said, making sure her voice was strong. "He never hurt me, and he never will." Of that one thing, she was sure.

Jacob was not as confident. "How can you know—"

Lucy spun around to Jacob with the tears she had been holding back ever since they had left the pub. At that moment, Lucy realized just how scared she truly was. The Natsu she knew, that she had befriended that night in front of her house, that she had immediately trusted for some unknown reason, was gone. And she didn't know if or how she was going to find him again. The whispers of the patrons came back to her. _"Salamander's finally back!"_

"Jacob," Lucy sniffed. "You said Salamander like you knew him." Jacob immediately looked uneasy. "What exactly is the Salamander?"

Jacob looked at her, and Lucy realized she must look pathetic. She was a sniveling mess in a huge T-shirt asking what were probably stupid question. But that's what you get when you live a sheltered rich girl life. He sighed in resignation and leaned against her bed. "The Salamander was nothing more than a local urban legend; there was no proof he existed. People would show up in the streets at all hours of the morning and night, murmuring about the monster called the Salamander. Each and every one of the victims would be all messed up, with blood and bruising all over them. No one died, so he was never made a real priority like a murderer would have been. Everyone just figured that he would show up one day and beat up somebody important, get arrested, and his legend would end."

There was a tense silence, and Lucy had a sinking suspicion. "Jacob, did Natsu..?"

A beat of silence. "He messed up my brother pretty bad once. Nick came home at like three in the morning, blood coming out of his mouth and a nasty bruise on his jaw. He had been kind of a rebel, getting heroine from a friend and the normal teenage stuff. I guess he went to that pub and thought he could take on your friend. I guess he couldn't have been much, though, if he came away with only a bruise and bloody lip. "

Lucy felt like she was going to explode. How had she never learned any of this? If Natsu had been this dangerous, how had she never heard reports of him in the news? He had to have caused enough trouble for it to reach her ears, right?

Jacob kept talking. "Around last Christmas, he was getting worse, with more reports coming in. People were starting to believe the Salamander really existed, you know? And then, the last one came in. It was weird. No more half-conscious people in the streets, no more reports about vicious beat downs by one man. They all just…stopped, like he never existed. The Salamander faded from everyone's minds."

Lucy's stomach felt like lead. "When…" She swallowed. "When was the last report?"

Jacob, oblivious to Lucy's oncoming hysterics, thought for a moment. "I think it was around January of this year. It was kind of—Hey, wait, where are you going?"

Lucy was storming out the door, seething. "I'm going to that damned pub and beating him to a bloody pulp. I might kill him, who knows?" Lucy knew she was being dramatic, but she felt like she had been stabbed. Why hadn't Natsu told her he was a…

She stopped suddenly, and Jacob knocked into her back. She winced when it jolted, the damage from last month still there. She felt her anger start to ebb a bit at a memory.

When she had asked for his name back in January, Natsu had told her he was the Salamander. He hadn't tried to hide it, and he didn't know if she had heard about him at all. He didn't, not even for a second, try to conceal his identity from her. But she hadn't cared, partly because she hadn't known what the Salamander was. He had been honest with her, and she owed him enough to let him continue being honest.

"Let's go, Jacob," Lucy ordered, her head much clearer. She was going to get some answers.


	8. Chapter 8

Lucy marched into the pub with Jacob trailing at her heels. She waded through the drunk crowd, who parted before her like water. She kept walking past the tables and catcalling drunkards to a less popular part of the floor: the residence hall.

It was a loose term, but fitting. It was where some of the fighters lived, if they didn't have anyplace to stay after work. Lucy walked down the hall, familiar from when she had also lived here while she was "missing." She stopped at the door that said "Salamander", the little "and Lucy" underneath making her smile. He had insisted they add it after only an hour, since the owner, Don, couldn't afford to give her her own room.

She knocked a few times and waited. "Why don't you just walk in?" Jacob asked her. Lucy snorted.

"If you wanna barge in there, go right ahead. I'm going to wait until he lets me in." The last time she had walked in without knocking, his fist had shot straight over her head, with no warning. It was a good thing she was so much shorter than him, or she might have a concave face now.

The door opened a crack, before springs creaked. The room was pitch dark, but Lucy knew he was probably in the bed. He groaned as they entered, and Jacob shut the door behind them. Lucy had asked him to be quiet while she talked to Natsu, and she hoped he'd stay true to his promise.

Her eyes adjusted to the dark to see Natsu lying on the bed with his arm slung over his eyes. _'Ah,'_ Lucy realized. _'He's still hungover.'_ She sat beside him, the springs creaking under her weight. She turned the lamp on as low as it could be, having some mercy on his hangover. Neither of them said anything, and Lucy was determined not to be the first one to speak. It was silly, but she wasn't going to let it go.

"Hey," he finally croaked. He didn't move his arm to look at her. She heard his fingers scratching at the sheets, and felt his hand as it accidentally touched her bottom. His eyebrows knitted together when he couldn't find her hair. Lucy had put it up in a pile on top of her head. It was to make sure that she wasn't distracted from her anger, and to punish him a little bit.

"You didn't cut it off, did you?" She laughed softly and gave a quiet "no." He sounded genuinely concerned. He had told her once that playing with her hair kept her close to him, but she guessed he also had a secret love of just playing with it. She loved to tease him about his inner fashionista.

Lucy bit her lip. She couldn't get distracted. She needed to know what had happened. "Natsu, what's wrong?" He moved his arm, finally, and looked at her carefully. He didn't say anything, and Lucy felt her temper flare. She glared at him, pouting like a child. He smirked and poked her in the arm before sitting up to prop himself against the wall. He winced slightly, giving Lucy some satisfaction.

"Natsu," she growled. "Seriously, I'm worried about you. What happened earlier…" Lucy trailed off, his bloody fist poised in front of Jacob's defenseless form coming back to her. He looked down, not meeting her eyes. The hot sensation of tears built up behind Lucy's eyes. "Natsu!"

"Answer her, Salamander." Jacob's voice made Lucy jump. Natsu gave him a cool stare. "Tell her what you and I both know. Tell her how you were more yourself today than you've been ever the last six—"

"Stop!" Lucy shrieked. "Jacob, I told you you could come if you would be quiet. Now shush."

"It's not like you can actually leave me behind, _Ms. Heartfilia._ " But he didn't say anymore. Lucy flinched at her last name, but pushed Jacob to the back of her mind and turned back to Natsu. He was glaring at Jacob, so Lucy brought his attention back to her with a touch of his arm. His jaw twitched, and Lucy sighed.

She grabbed her makeup bag-turned-first aid kit, whipping out hydrogen peroxide, bandages, and ointment like a practiced paramedic. Ten minutes of complete and utterly maddening silence later, she was knotting the last bow and leaning back. She wadded up the old bandages and tossed them into the trash basket in the corner of the room and turned back to Natsu.

"Okay, stop sulking." Lucy took his face in her hands, forcing him to look at her. "I'm here for answers, Natsu. I…You really scared me earlier. What's wrong?"

His black eyes bore into her, and he touched his forehead to hers. Lucy's breath stopped at how close he was. "Sorry, Luce," he said sincerely. "Really. I got a little drunk and I wasn't thinking very clearly. I fell back into old habits. Now I'm paying for it, apparently." He said the last part bitterly, and Lucy got the impression that he wasn't just talking about the hangover.

"What do you mean by old habits?" Lucy asked. She figured this was as good a place to start as any. Plus he had brought it up. He drew back from her, and Lucy immediately missed his warmth. He looked uneasy at her question, but she wanted to hear the story of the Salamander from him.

"Promise you won't leave," he said out of the blue. Lucy blinked.

"What?"

"Promise me that you won't leave. And if you could get him to leave, that would be great." He flicked his gaze over to Jacob, who stayed still as a statue. Lucy gave him a pleading look, even pouted. After a stare-off, he opened the door and shut it firmly, but it creaked as weight was applied from the outside. _'He must be leaning against it.'_

Lucy turned back to Natsu. "There, two birds with one stone. He's gone and I _can't_ leave." She smiled to try and ease his tension, but he didn't smile back. Lucy crawled over to sit next to him, lying back so her head was on his thigh. She looked up at him expectantly.

His hands unraveled the messy bun on top her hair, and he started. "Did you ever hear the rumors about the Salamander?" he asked. She shook her head, keeping Jacob's story to herself. She was here to hear Natsu out, whatever he might have to say. He sighed nervously. "Yeah, that's what I figured. Well, if you think your life sucks, Ms. Daddy Issues, wait 'til you hear this."


	9. Chapter 9

"Okay, so once upon a time—" Lucy smacked his chest, and he chuckled. "Once upon a time, I was…I'll say not in a good place. Yeah. I grew up in this pub, so I really only knew this place. I never went to school like you did, or knew anyone else my age. These beer guzzlers were the only kind of role models I had.

"They didn't really parent like normal parents, they just taught me two things, over and over again. One thing was to hit first, hit last, and don't get hit in the face. The second thing was to never hit someone unless I had a reason."

Lucy must've look stricken, because he laughed so hard he doubled over, smushing her face into his chest. "It actually isn't bad advice, trust me. But I did get into a lot of stupid fights because of it." His smile faded. "After maybe the hundredth one, I was asked if I wanted to fight for money in the pub. I was around eight, I think." Lucy's heart twisted. That would mean he'd been fighting for…ten years? Lucy was horrifed.

"Why would he ask you to do that?" Lucy whispered. His hands stilled in her hair, and she opened her eyes to see him looking at her sadly. He had a tiny smile on his face, and he leaned his head against the wall.

"I was good at it. Those fights I picked? They weren't with other kids. You haven't seen a kid in here yet, right?" Lucy shook her head. "I was fighting with whatever stumbling drunk got in my way. Whenever they scolded me, I would tell them they were in my way, or said something I didn't like. Looking back on it," his face scrunched up. "I never really had a good reason. But they never really stopped me. Which sort of leads to the whole Salamander thing, beginning and end." He gave her a pointed look to punctuate his last statement, which piqued Lucy's curiosity.

He didn't elaborate, though. "My first fight was against a regular; he came in every Thursday and always drank five glasses of the hard stuff. He always caused a panic, either chumming with other people or acting like the cops were coming. Someone convinced him to climb into the ring, but he was chicken. He picked me because I was like three feet shorter than him. That was my first win.

"After that, I just…I never really lost, you know? They put me up against the biggest guys they could find, but they always fell. It gave me a really big invincibility complex. I thought I just couldn't lose. Sure, I got cut up pretty bad. I got this in my third fight." He held up his forearm to show her a thick patch of scar tissue, about two inches in diameter just under the crease of his elbow. "They started calling me Salamander because I was quick and small. I couldn't be squashed." Lucy raised her eyebrows. "Seriously, I can quote people on that."

Lucy giggled. What a ridiculous way to earn a name. But she sobered when Natsu's hands started shaking in her hair.

"The name stuck, but it didn't really become the name of a criminal until I was about fourteen. I had gotten a lot better by then, and I was starting to do damage. The punches of a kid are a bit different from a teenager's. But I was too proud of my reputation to really notice. I can remember thinking…" He trailed off, and Lucy stayed quiet. She didn't want to shut him up, not when he was giving her the answers she had come for.

He shook his head. "No. Anyways, I kept fighting. I was a real brat, but I brought in so much money that no one important cared. My name became the pub's claim to fame in the underground; if there was any funny business in the pub, any broken deals, they had to deal with the Salamander.

"The first time I heard the whispers about me, I beat up the guy that told me them. He told me everything, not knowing who I was. I let him talk for a good long time; I wanted to hear what people thought of me. Boy did I hear it. I learned that the Salamander was a criminal and a monster, apparently, and beat up anybody that he didn't like. So, I went and proved him and everyone else right by leaving him in a back alley with a split lip and concussion. He really pissed me off."

Natsu was smiling bitterly, but Lucy's heart broke with every word he said. She felt horrible for having been angry with him. It didn't excuse what he did, but Lucy saw that he hadn't known better. It was tragic.

"I think that guy was the start of the real monster that people know the Salamander to be. I figured, if they think I'm a monster, then why not prove it? I beat my opponents within an inch of their lives sometimes, but I was sure to never let them die. I was never that angry, and I never had a reason to kill anyone. It was like the angsty teenage years of a soldier or something." Lucy smiled quickly at his attempt to cheer her up, but she still felt horrible. So she tried to steer the conversation toward something hopefully lighter.

"Natsu, you said something about the end of the Salamander. And you haven't been anything like that since I met you..?" She let her voice end in questioning tone, and he caught what she meant.

"Well, excuse my wording, but you killed the Salamander, Luce." Lucy's eyebrow quirked. "Really. When I took you out of the pub, I really was going to leave you in the street. I only got you out because I didn't want the pub getting shut down due to some newbie not keeping her mouth shut." Lucy tried to look offended, but she knew he didn't buy it. He only laughed at her. She stuck her tongue out instead.

"But when you made me walk you home…God, this sounds so cheesy." He covered his face with a hand, covering the cute pink blush he was sporting. Lucy's heart was beating a mile a minute, but she teased him anyway.

"Oh yeah? What's cheesy?" She smiled meanly, wagging her eyebrows like a creeper.

He met her taunting gaze, still blushing. "Okay. Well, I thought Natsu, that kid from all those years ago, had died when I was eight. That kid was gone. I had too much blood on my hands for that kid to ever come back. But that night, he…you found him." He groaned and covered his face again. "I hate myself."

Lucy was blushing worse than he was, but she laughed in a way not offend him and turned her face to his stomach, smiling like an idiot. "No, it was sweet. And I understand what you mean. It was the same way for me, you know."

He looked at her curiously. "You know this already, but my mom died when I was little. My dad sucked, and still sucks, at being a dad, and never really paid me any mind outside of signing that pesky tuition check. I thought I had died with my mom. I guess we found each other, right?" She moved her face to look up at Natsu, who was glaring at her. Lucy immediately flushed in embarrassment. "What?"

"How can you say cheesy stuff so naturally? It sounded normal when you said it!" He pouted, and Lucy busted out laughing. Uncontrollable giggles racked her body, Natsu quaking with laughter as well after a minute. Tears formed in Lucy's eyes, and she turned and wrapped her arms around Natsu's waist. He looked down at her smiling, and she breathed out a happy sigh.

"You're back."


	10. Chapter 10

After a great deal of convincing, Lucy convinced Jacob that Natsu would be able to take her home in time much faster than he would. Her curfew was in ten minutes, and Natsu had proven himself more than capable of running with her on his back for extended periods of time. Jacob definitely didn't like it, but said he'd see her tomorrow and walked off.

As he was running toward Lucy's house, Natsu muttered, "I really don't like that guy."

Lucy giggled from his back. "Why, you jealous?"

He hummed. "Maybe. Also, he's too perfect. You think they grew him out of a lab?"

Lucy laughed harder, before remembering something from the afternoon. When she could get words out, she said, "Speaking of him, do you know him? You seemed like you recognized his last name earlier."

Natsu was quiet for a minute, probably trying to catch his breath to speak. Or maybe he was ignoring her. She waited, and was about to ask again when he spoke. "His mother caused some real trouble for the pub a while back. Alyssa Cobeson, a snake in human skin. She tried to buy the pub out from under us, and almost did. But your old man started gunning for it around that time, too. Then both companies just stopped trying to buy. That's all I know, but I don't really like either of those names. My drunk self took it to the next level, I guess." He shrugged, like it was no big deal that he had been out of control. That story bothered Lucy for some reason, but she couldn't put her finger on it. She let it go, though. It wasn't something to think about right now.

"I know I'm prying, but were you upset about anything else? I've never even seen you drink, much less wasted at five in the afternoon." Lucy felt bad asking so many questions, but she was worried about him.

Once again she was left waiting, but she had a feeling he would answer her. She waited until they were standing in her room, Natsu laying on the carpet panting like a dog. He swallowed and accepted the glass of water she gave him, downing it in one go.

Lucy gave him an expectant look. "Oh, right. I was just worried, since you hadn't come back. I know you'd said to give you a few days, but I guess I'd expected you to come back that night. I've actually been drunk since…Was it Tuesday?"

Lucy stared at him. "Natsu, it's Saturday."

"…Definitely Tuesday."

"How are you a functioning human being?" Lucy was pretty sure that no one had that kind of alcohol tolerance. He'd even had a minor hangover three hours ago, yet here he was: laughing loudly after running for ten minutes straight without a care in the world.

"I probably slept for a few days in between." He saw her worried and disbelieving look. "Don't worry, I used to do it all the time."

Lucy smacked him upside the head and stepped into her bathroom. "Don't worry, Lucy! I used to give myself alcohol poisoning all the time!" Lucy muttered to herself, imitating Natsu's low voice to herself as she changed into a pair of pajama shorts. She walked out, rubbing her eyes. She hadn't realized how tired she was until now. Natsu looked at her and went to go, but she grabbed his hand. "No, don't go. I wanna talk some more."

He paused, but relented. They sat on the floor by her bed and talked about anything they thought of. Lucy fell asleep with her head on Natsu's shoulder.


	11. Chapter 11

Lucy woke up by being thrown on the floor. Her head throbbed as she sat up, brain still foggy from sleep. A sleepy "Wha..?" was all she could say.

She woke up instantly when she saw the scene unfolding in front of her. Three policemen were pinning Natsu to the ground, one holding his face while the other two controlled his arms. Natsu was resisting them as best he could, but they had taken away his primary weapons. He couldn't do anything with his arms handicapped. Lucy was reminded of last month, when she and Natsu had been in this exact situation. But Lucy had a terrible feeling that this wasn't going to end with a clean getaway out the window.

She went to tackle a cop, but they weren't underestimating her this time. She was caught by the waist right as she leapt, a scream shredding her throat in despair. She struggled against the arms wrapped around her, but they wouldn't budge.

"Geez," the man holding her said. "Would you stop moving?" The voice sounded familiar…

"Jacob?" Lucy asked, trying to spin around to see his face. But she caught a glimpse of perfectly gelled hair, and she knew it was him. "What are you doing? Let me help him!" They had picked Natsu off the ground now, hands clamped around his writhing arms as they lead him toward Lucy's door. He was digging his heels into the floor, but it was hardly doing anything. Tears formed in Lucy's eyes, and she pushed against Jacob again. "Jacob, please!"

"No, Ms. Heartfilia." Jacob's voice was resolute. "That monster is going to get what's coming to him."

Across the room, Natsu froze. It was so sudden that the cops leading him away stopped dragging him forward. Lucy had frozen as well, the word "monster" ringing in her ears.

"That's right, you heard me. Why don't you tell those cops dragging you away what other charges you've racked up over the years? That, along with kidnapping the heiress to the Heartfilia empire, you're also that damned—"

"NO!" Lucy screamed. She tossed her head back, feeling her collide with Jacob's mouth. He yelled in pain and flung her forward, and Lucy wasted no time in running toward the cops holding Natsu. She tugged at one of the arms restraining Natsu's arm, but to no avail. Natsu himself was not moving, all the fight drained out of him. "Natsu?" Lucy whimpered, but he didn't respond.

At that second, Jude Heartfilia strode into the room, Spetto following closely behind. He took in Natsu's restraint, the bloody bodyguard moaning in pain in the corner of the room, and Lucy clinging to a police officer without batting an eye. "Is this him, officers?" The police nodded, not fazed at all by what had just transpired in the last five minutes. Her father nodded, and gave Natsu a hard look. "You don't look like much, son. How'd you manage to escape me so long?"

Natsu didn't say anything, and Jude grabbed his chin to force eye contact. "I asked you a question, boy." Natsu met his eyes and spit on his shoes. Jude's eye twitched; he'd probably never been treated like that in his life. Lucy let out a tiny giggle at her father's expression.

Her father's angry gaze snapped to his daughter, and Lucy killed her laughter immediately. She detached her arms from around the policeman and looked at the ground, avoiding eye contact. It was the only way she knew how to act around her father; old habits died hard, especially under pressure. Jude took a step forward, and Lucy caught the guards start to struggle again as Natsu started resisting again. "Lucy," Jude Heartfilia growled. She flinched and cowered in front of him, knowing there was nothing she could do to stop whatever he decided to do. He was the ultimate authority in this house, and made sure she and everyone knew it.

"You have been a complete and utter disappointment to me, Lucy." Lucy didn't move, anger and shame swelling inside her. _'It's always been like this.'_ Memories of similar conversations came unbidden to her mind. "I've had you back for a matter of days and already you have forced my hand on multiple situations. I've missed three meetings with the Cobeson group alone just because of this silly rebelliousness you insist on. I have had it, young lady. No Lucky Lucy Heartfilia is going to behave this way, do you understand me?"

He grabbed her chin and forced her to look at him, not even looking at the hateful tears streaming down her face. He tightened his grip, and Lucy winced audibly. "Y-Yes, sir," she said, hating how pathetic she sounded.

"Good. Now—"

"Hey," Natsu growled, his voice an octave too deep for Lucy to feel safe. Both Heartfilias turned to look at him, and even Jude's normally controlled composure cracked. Natsu was trembling with rage, black eyes full of so much hate it took Lucy's breath away. His teeth were bared in an animalistic snarl, and his knuckles were popping with the effort not to explode. For the first time, Lucy was truly afraid of him. _'This is…That's the Salamander.'_ Lucy thought faintly.

"She's not your Lucky Lucy Heartfilia," Natsu growled again. "Stop treating her like a—ah!" The cop behind him fisted his hand in the pink locks and yanked it back, effectively shutting him up. Another cop forced him to swallow a pill, and after another brief struggle he was unconscious.

Lucy's father coughed and fiddled with his cufflinks in an effort to regain his composure. "Do with him what you want; if you want to take him to court, I have some documents you could use to ensure his incarceration. As for my daughter, start preparing her tutoring for inheritance immediately, Mrs. Spetto." Spetto nodded and hurried away, heels clicking on the hardwood. Jude turned back to Lucy. "Don't let him fool you. You _are_ Lucky Lucy of the Heartfilia empire, and you _will_ inherit this business. Your lessons start next week. I'll inform your school that you will be completing your diploma from home. It will be mailed here instead of being handed to you. You did this to yourself, Lucy. I hope you can understand that."

Her father walked out like he had just closed a deal with a client, not giving anyone a second glance. The cops holding Natsu up gave her sympathetic looks, but she ignored them. She walked up to Natsu's limp form. Checking to make sure they wouldn't stop her, she gave him a hug. She knew it was weird and creepy, but it felt right. She only wished he was able to hug her back.

Jacob followed the cops as they carried Natsu out of her room for the last time, leaving her alone with one thought: _'I'm all alone.'_


	12. Author Update

hey readers!

so I finally posted this! sorry it took so long, I had a lot of writer's block with this one (which is why it feels kind of rushed). and before everyone starts sending in the "there's no way this is finished" reviews, don't worry. there will be another sequel, and maybe a glimpse into what those three weeks were like for Natsu and Lucy ;)

thanks for all the support with these, and i hope you enjoyed Manhunt!


End file.
